Department of Health and Social Care

Antimicrobials: Drug Resistance

The Lord Bishop of Exeter: To ask His Majesty's Government how many deathswere attributed to antimicrobial resistance inEngland in (1) 2017, (2) 2018, (3) 2019, (4) 2020, and (5) 2021.

Lord Markham: The UK Health Security Agency runs national surveillance programmes to collect and analyse data on antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Data is reported in the annual English surveillance programme for antimicrobial utilisation and resistance report.The table below shows the estimated number of deaths attributable to severe antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.YearDeaths attributable to AMR20172,28820182,41920192,59620202,22820212,213 Note: Data for 2017 may use different inclusion criteria from data for 2018 onwards, which is influenced by reporting against the current United Kingdom AMR national action plan, and so may not be directly comparable.

Respiratory System: Diseases

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of patients in paediatric intensive care units and wards this winter for Respiratory Syncytial Virus-related reasons; and what stepsthey are taking to mitigate the challenges of managing capacity in hospitals in respect of respiratory illnesses.

Lord Markham: In the 2022/23 winter period, there were approximately 9,000 admissions for laboratory confirmed Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), admitted to any level of care including intensive care and high dependency units, in the population aged under five years old in England. This approximate estimate is in line with rates seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) ongoing weekly surveillance reports on the levels of RSV in England have led to early activation of the National Health Service monoclonal antibody prevention programme for infants at highest risk. We also highlight the signs and symptoms of RSV, steps to reduce infections and ways of reducing risks to babies through online, national and regional media.The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) is in the process of reviewing the newly licensed long acting monoclonal antibody Nirsevimab, and its potential use in the United Kingdom for passive immunisation of neonates and young infants. The JCVI will make its recommendations once it has reviewed the necessary evidence to do so.NHS England has set out its overall plan for increasing the NHS’s operational capacity and resilience this winter, including increasing bed capacity through a mixture of new hospital beds, ‘virtual ward’ spaces and initiatives to improve patient flow. There are also other initiatives in place to help keep patients out of hospital. These include community care, NHS @ Home, therapeutics programme and the seasonal vaccination programmes.

Food: Surveys

Lord Field of Birkenhead: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made ofthe potential merits of expanding the samplesizefor the Food Standards Agency's Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.

Lord Markham: The Food Standards Agency currently has no plans to increase the sample size for the Food and You 2 Survey. Each biannual wave of fieldwork contains a sample size of 4,000 households, with 2,000 in England, and 1,000 in each of Wales and Northern Ireland. This provides sufficient accuracy at a 95% confidence level for the survey’s key estimates. The random probability sampling approach, by which households are randomly selected from the postcode address file, and use of weighting helps to ensure the results are representative of the population. Where greater accuracy is required, responses from multiple survey waves can be combined.The higher survey delivery costs associated with a larger sample size outweigh the benefits from an increase in accuracy.

Public Health: Finance

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask His Majesty's Government whether, as was announced in the 2021 Spending Review, the public health grants for 2023–24 and 2024–25 will increase in line with inflation.

Lord Markham: We will announce the 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly.

Hypertension: Drugs

Lord Blunkett: To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the population in each of the 10largest cities in England are in receipt of prescription medication for high blood pressure.

Lord Markham: The information requested is not held centrally.

Department for Education

Students: Loans

Lord Hampton: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to bring back a student loan forgiveness scheme for teachers, similar to that trialled between 2002 and 2004, in which 10 per cent of a new teacher’s total student loan was paid off each year that they stayed in the profession.

Baroness Barran: The Department has piloted two schemes in recent years which were designed to attract and retain teachers by repaying their student loans. The Repayment of Teachers’ Loans (RTL) scheme was trialled in the mid-2000s and an evaluation was completed by University of Durham in 2004. This indicated that RTL influenced 11% of participating teachers’ decisions to stay in teaching.In 2017, the Department introduced the Teacher Student Loan Reimbursement (TSLR) scheme for science and languages teachers in 26 Local Authorities, which allows these teachers to claim back the student loan repayments they have made. The evaluation by CFE Research was published in January 2023, and found that TSLR exerts some influence on both retaining teachers and the areas where they choose to teach.Both the RTL and TSLR evaluations found that offering bursaries for trainee teachers exerts the strongest influence on teacher recruitment. This is why the Department is offering increased bursaries worth £27,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £29,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.

Health Education

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they haveto improve health literacy of school pupils.

Baroness Barran: The Department has made health education compulsory in all state funded schools in England, alongside making relationships education for primary pupils, and relationships and sex education for secondary pupils compulsory. This is collectively known as relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).The Department has published implementation guidance and teacher training modules covering all RSHE topics to help schools develop their curricula and teach the subjects confidently and effectively. This guidance available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.Topics in the RSHE curriculum at both primary and secondary include health and prevention, healthy eating, mental wellbeing, and physical health and fitness.The Department is reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance this year. The Department intends to publish revised guidance in 2024.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

TradeMark Africa

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of TradeMark Africa's developmental impact; and what steps they will take to support that organisation.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: An independent evaluation of TradeMark East Africa (now TradeMark Africa) was published in December 2019. It found that TradeMark's work had significantly reduced time spent in trade transport and processes. Welfare and GDP rose as a result of TradeMark's interventions. TradeMark's programming on women and trade positively impacted most participants. We continue to fund TradeMark's work on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and in East Africa, which includes finalising roadworks in Somalia, building ports in Rwanda and easing the movements of goods between Ghana and Togo.

Africa: Trade Agreements

Lord Boateng: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to contribute to the GDP of that continent.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFA) has the potential to boost Africa's economic development by driving industrialisation, generating jobs and delivering prosperity across the continent. The World Bank estimates suggest that, if fully implemented, the AfCFTA will create better-quality jobs, increase real incomes by 9 percent and lift 50 million people from extreme poverty. If successful, AfCFTA will provide new commercial opportunities for businesses across Africa and globally, potentially doubling Foreign Direct Investment and linking Africa into regional and global value chains.

Syria and Turkey: Earthquakes

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ways in which UK emergency aid can best be delivered to those most affected by the earthquake in southern Turkey and Syria on 6 February; and what steps they are taking, together with international partners in the UN, to ensure that international aid is able to reach north-west Syria.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are working closely with the UN, international and NGO partners, and with the Turkish authorities in Turkey, on how best to mobilise UK humanitarian support in Turkey and Syria following the earthquake.The UN has been clear that for assistance to reach those most in need in north west Syria, it is imperative that more aid can be delivered across the border via Turkey.The UK strongly supports the reopening of additional border crossings between Turkey and north west Syria, as we have repeatedly called for in the UN Security Council, which would improve aid access.

Ministry of Defence

Challenger Tanks

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to conclude their review of the number of Challenger 3 tanks which will comprise the full operating capability to be delivered by 2030.

Baroness Goldie: As announced by the Secretary of State on 16 January 2023, the number of Challenger 3 Main Battle Tanks are being reviewed as a matter of priority following lessons learned from Ukraine, and to ensure the Army's Main Battle Tank fleet remains sufficient to meet Defence's needs.

Challenger Tanks

Lord Rogan: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the reason for the delay in the completion of the delivery of Challenger 3 tanks for use in demonstration trials from 2024 to early 2025.

Baroness Goldie: There is no delay to the delivery of the Challenger 3 prototypes. The Challenger 3 prototypes will be delivered for use in demonstration trials from 2023, as scheduled. Additional Challenger 3 prototypes have now been purchased and are due for delivery in early 2025.

Employment: Veterans

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to ensure that qualifications gained by servicemen and women in the military are recognised by civilian employers.

Baroness Goldie: Over 600 nationally recognised qualifications are delivered to personnel across the single Services from Levels 1 to 8 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework, covering a wide range of subject areas including aviation, engineering, IT, leadership, and medical training. Where possible, all mandatory military training and education is accredited and leads towards a full or partial nationally recognised qualification. In instances where this is not possible due to niche content, individuals may elect to undertake additional learning to achieve a full qualification or accreditation, supported by their Service. In addition to in-service military training and education, the Ministry of Defence provides funding for Service personnel and Service leavers to gain qualifications in subjects of their choosing.

Ukraine: Military Aircraft

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many fighter jets the UK Armed Forces currently have in service that would be suitable for use by Ukraine; and what assessment they have made of how many of those it would be possible for the UK to provide to Ukraine.

Baroness Goldie: In addition to existing commitments of support already made as recently as those at Ramstein in January 2023, the Prime Minister has asked the Defence Secretary to investigate what support we might be able to give on the provision of combat aircraft to Ukraine. This work is ongoing.

Espionage: China

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government whether any Chinese spy balloons incursions have been detected over UK airspace in the past two years; and whether they have received any reports from European countries of any similar incursions into European airspace during that time.

Baroness Goldie: I refer the Noble Lord to the answer the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (James Heappey) provided to the right hon. Member for Wentworth & Dearne (John Healey) on 14 February 2023 to Question 140019 in the House of Commons.The Government and partners will also undertake a security review of UK and international airspace.Airspace (docx, 21.5KB)

Germany: Defence Equipment

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what restrictions are placed on the use of defence equipment supplied to the Ministry of Defence by German arms manufacturers, including the new Boxer armoured transport vehicles due to enter UK service in 2023.

Baroness Goldie: Equipment supplied to the Ministry of Defence by German arms manufacturers has no restriction on use while it remains in our possession and under our control. Should the UK wish to subsequently sell, loan, or transfer such equipment to our allies and partners then all such sharing would be subject to the relevant laws on intellectual property, national export regulations and licence conditions that identify and control the end user, and reflect international arms controls and human rights legislation.

Omagh: Military Bases

Lord Empey: To ask His Majesty's Government when inspections and building condition surveys were last carried out on St Lucia Barracks in Omagh.

Lord Empey: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they own St Lucia Barracks in Omagh.

Baroness Goldie: The Ministry of Defence owns the historic core buildings at St Lucia Barracks, the remainder of the site is owned by the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure. A full building condition report was completed in September 2019 which identified repairs needed to the historic core buildings. Remediation works, undertaken by Defence Infrastructure Organisation contractors, were completed in September 2022. Defence Infrastructure Organisation Officials last inspected the buildings on 8 February 2023.

Home Office

Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they aretaking to reduce incidences of knife crime against shop workers.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: The Home Office has provided £130m this financial year (22/23) to tackle and drive down serious violence, including funding for Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) and the Home Office ‘Grip’ programme.We have introduced legislation to tackle these crimes. Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) are new court orders introduced via the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 that will give the police the power to stop and search adults already convicted of knife or offensive weapons offences. We will pilot SVROs in four police force areas to build an understanding of the impact and effectiveness of the new orders before making a decision on whether we should introduce them nationally.Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs) were introduced in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. KCPOs impose curfews and restrictions on high-risk individuals. They are currently being piloted by the Metropolitan Police before a decision is taken on wider rollout.In addition, section 156 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced a statutory aggravating factor for assault against any public facing worker. This ensures the courts treat the public-facing nature of a victim’s role as an aggravating factor when considering the sentence for any assault offence where they consider this factor to be relevant.The Home Office continues to work closely with retailers, trade associations and the police through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) to encourage retailers to work with police so that crimes are effectively dealt with at a local level. The NRCSG has produced practical resources to assist with crime prevention and encourage retailers to report crimes when they occur.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Planning Permission: Finance

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that commuted funds in respect of planning obligations set aside under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 are spent in (1) an appropriate, and (2) timely, manner and represent value for money.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Section 106 obligations are negotiated between developers and local planning authorities, and can include obligations requiring developers to pay financial contributions. Where they are used to support the grant of planning permission, section 106 obligations must comply with regulation 122 of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations 2010 (as amended), which states that the obligations must be necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms, must be directly related to the development, and must be fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.Section 106 agreements should normally include clauses stating how commuted funds will be used, and clauses that allow for their return, after an agreed period of time, where they are not used. Local authorities that receive contributions must publish Infrastructure Funding Statements annually, which set out what has been received and spent through developer contributions, providing transparency for communities.Under the new infrastructure levy proposed in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill, levels of negotiation in the system will be reduced, while retaining a constrained role for section 106 agreements. Local authorities will be required to produce infrastructure delivery strategies to illustrate how they intend to spend Levy proceeds in a timely and effective manner, such that new development is accompanied by the infrastructure that local communities need - like roads, schools, and GP surgeries.

Department for Business and Trade

Hospitality Industry: Conditions of Employment

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to protect the (1) pay, (2) conditions, and (3) employment rights, of workers in the hospitality sector, given the wage inflation seen in that sector over the past year.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: Protecting and enhancing workers’ rights whilst supporting business to grow remains a priority for this government. On 1 April 2023, the Government will increase the National Living Wage (NLW) for workers aged 23 years and over by 9.7% to £10.42. This keeps the Government on track to achieve its manifesto commitment for the NLW to equal two-thirds of median earnings by 2024, providing economic conditions allow. The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill, sponsored by my Hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn, will ensure that all tips go to staff, and allows staff to bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal if businesses do not fairly distribute well-earned service charges. Other than ensuring compliance with NMW requirements, rates of pay in the private sector are determined by negotiations between business and workers.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Weather

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they will be taking to protect vulnerable peopleduring the cold weather.

Lord Callanan: The Government has set up a number of Energy Affordability schemes to support vulnerable people with the cost of their energy bills during the cold weather. The Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical household in Great Britain £900 this Winter. The Energy Bills Support Scheme provided households with £400 non-repayable Government discount paid in instalments to UK households from October 2022 to March 2023. Households using alternative fuels will be also entitled to a £200 Alternative Fuel Payment. This is in addition to the cost-of-living support package announced in May 2022 of:£650 Cost of Living Payment for those on means tested benefits;£300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for pensioners, households across the UK to be paid alongside the Winter Fuel Payment;£150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.

EU Law

Baroness Andrews: To ask His Majesty's Government how many retained EU Law statutory instruments (SIs) are within the scope of the Common Frameworks programme; how many of these SIs are the responsibility of Scotland and Wales respectively; and when they plan to publish their scenario planning for the impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on the operability of the Common Frameworks programme.

Lord Callanan: It is too early to state the volume of legislation needed to amend retained EU law as the number of SIs required will depend on a range of factors. All SIs will become publicly available once laid before Parliament, in the usual way.The Retained EU Law Dashboard shows where retained EU law sits across departments, policy areas and sectors. It will be updated quarterly to document the government's progress of amending, repealing or replacing retained EU law that is not right for the UK.The purpose of Common Frameworks is to manage divergence, and whilst the sunset date within the Bill may encourage a quicker pace of reform, there is nothing unique to REUL reform that places it beyond the ability of Common Frameworks to handle in the areas they cover. As such, no specific scenario planning is required. I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave her today to HL5580 and HL5581: the Review and Amendment mechanism within Frameworks is designed to allow a Framework to be updated should a relevant change, such a reform of a significant piece of retained EU law that in the scope of the framework, require it.